We Kill Innocent people in the name of justice: Reported by Jack Ferm

On July 4, 2001, associate Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, in a speech before the Minnesota Women's Lawyers Group, stated:

"If statistics are any indication, the system may well be allowing some innocent defendants to be executed."

          Justice O'Connor was more correct than she knew!

The truth- twenty-two (22) innocent people have been executed in America between 1950 and 2000 our system of Justice not only failed them, but it failed us as well. Our criminal Justice system is a system that for the most part, simply does not work.

The miscarriages of justice have occurred in several forms, from witness fabrication for a reward, to government officials who know the truth but fail to come forward.  Prior to 1963, it is hard to determine how many inmates were truly innocent, as the law did not require that the accused had a right to counsel.  Then, in a landmark decision in 1963, the United States Supreme Court mandated that an accused must have the right to counsel and that if he could not afford one, the state would provide counsel free of charge.  Even after this landmark decision, innocent men and women have been convicted and sentenced for crimes they had not committed, all in the interest of justice.  The sad part is, the real criminal got away with a crime and remained free to commit more.

          As of December 2000, there were two million prison inmates throughout the United States.  3,711 of these inmates were on death row.

The Innocence Project, which is doing a superb job in attempting to even the playing field, consists of a loosely knit association of criminal defense lawyers across America.  They search for the truth when justice has failed.  Through DNA testing and reinvestigation of death row cases and major felonies, they have been able to exonerate many inmates, but at what cost?  In some cases, these people have been imprisoned from 10 to 34 years before their innocence was proven, and some never get out.

          Why does this happen?

            People are wrongfully convicted for many reasons, stemming from:

            1.  Simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time;

            2. “ Ineffective” assistance of counsel;

            3.  Perjured testimony of witnesses, usually for a reward;

            4.  Evidence tampering and concealment by police and FBI;

5. Prosecutorial misconduct, withholding evidence of innocence, or manufacturing evidence of guilt, usually to further a personal career;

6.  Judicial incompetence -- judges who do not understand the application of the law; and

7.     Jury misconduct -- jurors who want to please, and forsake their

            duty and integrity.

          A perfect example of such a case is the story of Peter Limone.  His story should shock you:

In 1965, the Boston mob hit and killed Edward Deagan. Joseph Barboza; an FBI informant; testified at the trial of Peter Limone and four other defendants, and identified them as the hit men. Based on his testimony, Mr. Limone and the other four were convicted.  At the time of his conviction, Mr. Limone was 33 years old previously his only trouble with the law had come from running a dice game.

At the time the FBI were using informants to gather information about mob activity.  Information that the FBI had in their files pointed to suspects which included Joseph Barboza himself as the actual killer.  Since Barboza was an FBI informant, the agency concealed the list of suspects from the state of Boston.  Limone and three of the other four co-defendants were not on the list the FBI received from its sources.

Mr. Limone spent 33 years, two months and five days in prison before he was exonerated.  Four years of that time were on death row.  Olympia Limone, his wife, made a living for herself and their four children by sewing.  Believing in his innocence, she would visit him faithfully twice a week.

While in prison, Limone survived a heart attack his four children grew up, were married, and had children of their own. The prime of his life passed while he was in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Barboza, who was a mob hit man, and an FBI informant, framed Limone.  Mr. Barboza cooperated with prosecutors and framed Limone while the FBI sat back did nothing and watched. They stood by, knowing of his innocence and the innocence of the other defendants, but did nothing.  They would have allowed Limone and the others to be executed to protect their source.

Limone was exonerated as a side event of a major federal trial in Boston involving Stephen Flemmi and James Bulger, two Boston mob leaders.  In proceedings that took place in Boston over a period of years, the presiding federal judge, Mark L. Wolf, turned up instances of FBI misconduct so disturbing that he ordered an investigation by the Department of Justice's Task Force.  He further ordered the establishment of guidelines on how agents should interact with informants, and what they must tell prosecutors about those relationships.

Testimony uncovered corruption within the FBI and their relationship with top-echelon informants that allowed them to literally get away with murder.  Barboza was just one of many.

Limone and four other people were convicted of Deagan's murder.  Two of them died while in prison in or about 1995.  Barboza later admitted he had fabricated the story convicting the five defendants.

The attorney for Mr. Limone, John Cavicchi, discovered through documents that he was able to obtain with the cooperation of Judge Wolf, that Barboza was given inducements by the authorities to testify as he did, and yet the trial judge gave the jury the impression that Barboza was a non-interested party.

The Justice Department Task Force, during their investigation of the FBI, released documents that it had uncovered, which showed that FBI informants had told the FBI beforehand that Mr. Deagan would be killed and who would kill him.  The list did not include Mr. Limone or three of the other co-defendants.

The FBI knew that four of the defendants were innocent, yet they did nothing. Why? To protect their own informants and, they did nothing to prevent the killing of Deagan.

Joseph Salvati, Lewis Greco, Henry Tameleo and Peter Limone were all cleared by the FBI files.  Greco and Tameleo died while in prison.

Mr. Limone was 66 when he was finally exonerated and released from prison he died a short while afterward.  After his release in January 2001 he filed a civil rights lawsuit seeking some 60 million dollars in damages but died before he could see the recovery. 

Where are the investigative reporters, why haven’t the media taken a more active role in investigating these events? I suppose it’s not financially prudent in this corporate air of blending news with entertainment, but certainly this has the flair to generate shock journalism and sensationalism that is how the media reports the news today. 

Lawyers and depression, substance abuse and suicide: Reported by Jack Ferm

Studies show high rates of attorney depression, substance abuse, and suicide. .. Related to the stress of litigation practice, many attorneys are on the verge of a stress overload. This overload becomes obvious from a perusal of their pleadings and how they respond to an opponent in litigation practice.

At a seminar in Orlando entitled “Practicing with Professionalism” Michael Cohen, Executive Director of Florida Lawyers Assistance, presented the first session, entitled “Chemical Dependency/Stress.” He opened with his own story of substance abuse and recovery — instant credibility, a spellbinding tale of breakdown and recovery …the entire room stopped to listen to Mr. Cohen’s story and its lesson.
Mr. Cohen presented some startling statistics about attorney substance abuse, depression, and suicide rates; here are the figures he presented:

• 15-18% of attorneys will have substance abuse problem vs. 10% of general population.
• Over 1/3 of attorneys say they are dissatisfied and would choose another profession if they could.
• Attorneys have the highest rates of depression and suicide of any profession.

He also cited a study of Canadian lawyers that showed suicide to be the third leading cause of death for attorneys, behind only cancer and heart disease, studies show that 51% of lawyers experience stress at higher levels than the “normal” population.
These studies reveal a crisis point for practicing lawyers. They indicate that the way many approach practice just isn’t working, in fact it creates stress levels that can kill or at a minimum create an atmosphere where the attorney will give up his practice and seek a different profession
Perhaps the law attracts people who are intrinsically more susceptible to substance abuse or emotional issues. But lifestyle and the pressures of today’s practice have a lot to do with these findings.
This author is not suggesting that most lawyers are headed for depression, drug or alcohol addiction, or suicide. But I do submit that many lawyers are stressed out. And, more importantly, I suggest that there are enough pressures on lawyers, especially lawyers who are fairly new to the practice, that it’s critical to be aware of the danger signals for these disorders.
Recognizing the Danger signals of stress
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.
It’s important to learn how to recognize when your stress levels are out of control. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feels familiar even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll.
The signs and symptoms of stress overload can be almost anything. Stress affects the mind, body, and behavior in many ways, and every lawyer experiences stress differently.

Stress doesn’t always look stressful

Psychologist Connie Lillas uses a driving analogy to describe the three most common ways people respond when they’re overwhelmed by stress:

• Foot on the gas – An angry or agitated stress response. You’re heated, keyed up, overly emotional, and unable to sit still.
• Foot on the brake – A withdrawn or depressed stress response. You shut down, space out, and show very little energy or emotion.
• Foot on both – A tense and frozen stress response. You “freeze” under pressure and can’t do anything. You look paralyzed, but under the surface you’re extremely agitated.

Signs and symptoms of stress overload

The following table lists some of the common warning signs and symptoms of stress. The more signs and symptoms you notice in yourself, the closer you may be to stress overload.

Stress Warning Signs and Symptoms
Cognitive Symptoms	Emotional Symptoms
Memory problems Inability to concentrate Poor judgment Seeing only the negative Anxious or racing thoughts Constant worrying	Moodiness Irritability or short temper Agitation, inability to relax Feeling overwhelmed Sense of loneliness and isolation Depression or general unhappiness
Physical Symptoms	Behavioral Symptoms
Aches and pains Diarrhea or constipation Nausea, dizziness Chest pain, rapid heartbeat Loss of sex drive Frequent colds	Eating more or less Sleeping too much or too little Isolating yourself from others Procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities Using alcohol, cigarettes, or drugs to relax Nervous habits (e.g. nail biting, pacing

PLEASE NOTE: Depression, substance abuse, and any suicidal thoughts are best addressed with the help of counselors who are trained and certified.
If you or any lawyer you know needs help, overcoming these challenges. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline can be reached at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), 24 Hours a day. Please call them if you are in crisis.

2012 Presidential prediction: Reported by Jack Ferm

This is yet another election where we have no real choice. It lies between the lesser of two evils. On the one hand we have a pseudo liberal, and on the other a flighty conservative, who has taken for his Vice Presidential aspirant, Paul Ryan, a man that insists that privatization of all government programs would be good for the country and JP Morgan too.

Both appear to be ready to throw Medicare and Social Security under the bus, Obama offered to do that last year. This year Ryan has joined the chorus. That would leave seniors, possibly one of the largest voting blocks in the nation, to fend for themself. Yet we stand a very good chance of this happening should either of these two be elected.

The Republican Party today, possibly equivalent to an organized crime ring, or as close to it as one can get, has been taken over by T-party and Born Again fruitcakes; between these two organized miscreants and their voting blocks, passing laws that impede voting by seniors and the poor, and voting machines that are subject to pre-programming. We have witnessed the dramatic failure of a two party system. Its time for a change, its time to scrap both parties and start anew…

Neither party has taken on the challenge of fixing this principal issue to free elections.  This and a media which has for years shown visible disdain for democracy, an entertainment complex we laughingly call the news.

Obamacare was a set up by Roberts in order to give the election to Romney; however Romney is his own fool, he suffers from foot in mouth disease…which caused him to lose the momentum.

Roberts presented to America, that for the first time in “world” history and against the very principles of Democracy and our Constitution, that a Penalty could be laid as a Tax…

A Penalty and a Tax are not one and the same…, each has a different purpose. A penalty is a punishment to dissuade some conduct; a tax is a revenue raising measure to support the functions of government…Roberts knew better, he is no fool!

Obama will win by default, we have No one who we can point to and say, this is another Kennedy or Eisenhower…We were fooled in 2008 when we thought we had…lets not be fooled again!

Election 2012, and the man who promised change; Reported by Jack Ferm

Obama is not the first president to divide the spoils of his presidency among his supporters but he is perhaps the most obvious.

Looking at the history of his relationship with Wall Street to his support of Oil and all the large corporate interests, tells the tale of a man who fooled a nation.  Yet in the face of a failed presidency, the Republicans have failed to present a believable candidate, while America continues to cringe on the verge of a revolution.    

As a candidate who promised change, he delivered a mystery of mixed prospects. From an escalation of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, to entering new battle fronts through his drone warfare escalation in six countries, to the execution of American Citizens without trial, to the NDAA giving himself the power to hold American Citizens indefinitely, to his protection and enabling of continued corruption by his Wall Street handlers.

But most blatantly his refusal to seek criminal prosecutions of the Wall Street insiders who have played a large part over financing his public office candidacy, and his friendship for JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon

The man who promised change retained the bush advisors. Increased defence spending and passed the nations first health care law that failed to address the real numbers of America’s uninsured, while it leaves millions to remain uninsured. The health care law did one thing; it assured the solvency of the insurance industry, an industry that took a hit from the foreclosure epidemic.  But in funding the insurance industry President Obama showed his true interest which does not lay with America’s most needy, the unemployment, or a failed economy.  

But what he did do is even more systemic of a government that no longer represents the governed;

Obama Signed the NDAA into law -- making it legal to assassinate Americans w/o trial; Personally oversees a 'Secret Kill List'; Waged war on Libya without congressional approval; Started a covert, drone war in Yemen; Escalated the proxy war in Somalia; Escalated the CIA drone war in Pakistan; Was thrown out of Iraq; Sharply escalated the war in Afghanistan; Secretly deployed US special forces to 75 countries; Signed an agreement for 7 military bases in Colombia; Opened a military base in Chile; Touted nuclear power, for the nuclear power lobby, even after the disaster in Japan;  Opened up deepwater oil drilling, even after the BP disaster;  Signed the Patriot Act extension into law knowing the law is fundamentally flawed and is unconstitutional; Continued Bush's rendition program;  Kept his promise to not prosecute CIA torturers; Gives Shell Green Light to Start Risky Arctic Drilling; Sent 200 Marines to Guatemala to fight drug trafficking; Authorized covert support for Syrian rebels; Obama signs executive order giving himself control of all communication systems in America;  Under Obama, the export of American arms to countries around the world -- even those actively repressing their own citizens -- is booming. The United States is the world's top provider of major conventional weapons; helped the C.I.A. to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition, as part of PNAC the “project for a new American century plan for world dominance”; Obama administration rejects FOIA requests from NYT, ACLU for "targeted killing" Obama order set off wave of cyberattacks against Iran;  Obama's 'Poverty-Relieving' Plan for Africa a Profit Boon for Giant Agribusiness and his ties to Monsanto; Obama has opened three new military bases in Honduras; Proposes Polar Bear Extinction Plan; fast-tracked segment of Keystone pipeline against US interests; signs Executive Order allowing for control over all US resources; signs anti-protest trespass bill into law; Obama's Attorney General says U.S. can assassinate American citizens abroad (without being charged with anything or given a trial); White House helps pay for NYPD Muslim surveillance;  We're #47! After Occupy Journalist Arrests, US Plummets in Global Press Freedom Rankings; The White House has declared the government of South Sudan eligible to receive weapons and defense assistance from the U.S. The announcement came amid an outbreak of violence between two South Sudanese tribes that may have left thousands dead and some 50,000 people needing aid; Obama Signs NDAA Indefinite Detention Bill into Law, The statute contains a sweeping worldwide indefinite detention provision; Expand military in Australia 2,500 US Marines to be stationed in Australia; Obama's Offshore Oil Plan a Disaster for Wildlife, Climate; Obama's new war in Uganda; Obama's proposal to gut Freedom of Information Act; As troops pull out of Iraq, Obama plans more combat forces elsewhere in the Middle East; New Obama Foreclosure Plan Helps Banks At Taxpayers' Expense; Obama Waives Penalties on Countries That Employ Child Soldiers; Obama accommodates Turkey's request for drone aircraft in fight against Kurdish separatists; Blocked release of Photos & videos of Bin Laden's killing because they would allegedly reveal military and intelligence secrets and could lead to violence against U.S. personnel; Obama quietly renews U.S. embargo on Cuba; Obama secretly sold bunker-busting bombs to Israel; US Resumes Arms Sales to Bahrain.  Less than three months after including Bahrain on a list of human rights offenders requiring the United Nations' attention; Obama silent as U.S. murders Troy Davis; Assembling secret drone bases in Africa, Arabian Peninsula; "Obama cozies up to Uzbekistan dictator" - lobbies congress to sell more military equipment to one of the world's most repressive leaders; Building new massive prison in Bagram, Afghanistan; Obama Pushes NAFTA Style Trade Policy Despite 2008 Promise; Obama said that if the Palestinians try to achieve statehood in the UN Security Council, the US will oppose the proposal; Obama abandoned a contentious new air pollution rule, buoying business interests that had lobbied heavily against it; Libya is essentially a "NATO enforced regime change" and President Obama is "implementing the Bush domino agenda in the Middle East";  Obama’s secret war in 120 countries, Somewhere on this planet an American commando is carrying out a mission; Obama's Debt Deal 'Trades People's Livelihoods for the Votes of a Few Unappeasable Right-Wing Radicals'; 99 Out of 101 Torture Cases Dropped to benefit of CIA; U.S. millions fund world’s newest army, South Sudan, despite worries of its human rights abuses, including killings, most recently in April when hundreds of civilians were killed or wounded by the U.S. ally; The Obama administration expanded its drone war to Somalia, which makes six countries where the United States is using drones to conduct lethal attacks: Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Libya, Iraq and Yemen; Also, the US is supplying drone aircrafts to Uganda and Burundi to help them fight in Somalia; Obama Admin Warns of “Fines and Incarceration” if U.S. Citizens Set Sail with Gaza Aid Flotilla;  Just prior to Obama's speech on withdrawing some troops from Afghanistan, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a $14.2 million contract to a Turkish company to construct an eight-building barracks complex for 12,000 troops at Bagram Air Field.  Completion date is scheduled for fall of 2013; Whistleblowers Suffer More than Ever Under Obama;  

This list is endless!

Obama’s record is perhaps one of the worst of any president in modern times, he was a man that not only lacked experience but played to it.

America has an overkill military; we have the largest budget in the world and are incapable, with all our technology and man power, of winning a war... Think Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam and Korea for starters!

Another way of looking at it is this: Obama 'inherited' two wars, both of them in violation of international law. Afghanistan did not attack us. He greatly expanded that war, escalated the war into Pakistan and other states, dropped special ops troops into a dozen African nations, overthrew Libya and lied about the reasons and our use of mercenaries which caused the 'uprising', expanded the 'anti-drug' war in Honduras after acceding to the military coup there... in short, he's greatly expanded America's military presence almost everywhere. His undermining of the constitution is worse than anything Nixon or Bush ever did.

We are to be engaged in a 100 year war to stamp out terrorism…But Most people have no idea what Terrorism is. It is not an enemy, it is an ideology of people without a standing army...The way to deal with this ideology is to change the battleground, war and killing will never end terrorism, it will Embolden it because for every terrorist killed 10 more will take their place...they become martyrs for their cause...We are not involved in a war against terrorism, because we are using a method that is destined to fail…we are engaged in a war to eliminate our rights as a free people…Using the ploy of terrorism to accomplish it... And this ploy has been very successful…

Obama has relegated our First, Fourth, Fifth and Sixth amendment rights to history… we are watched and followed wherever we go on the net, our emails are saved and read, our phone conversations are being recorded, our library records and phone calls are monitored; We are subject to search by any law enforcement officer without a warrant, and without probable cause, we are monitored because of our ethnic heritage, We are subject to arrest and detention without a presentation of charges, without representation and without a trial; we are watched through numbers of cameras strategically placed for that purpose while drones are to be engaged to watch us more closely.  We are no longer allowed the right to assemble and petition or the right to speech to criticize the government, we are monitored through our own computers and the back door placed in programs we rely on; our satellites can follow us wherever we travel, and we can be assassinated for speaking out against the policies of our own government…

Give some thought to this!

We pay for war but let our infrastructure rot (Bridges, Roads, and Schools)

We pay for war but have no jobs. (The real numbers of Unemployed may be as high as 40 million people)

We pay for war and have a disintegrated educational system. (America has received scores around 500 on a scale that goes up to 1,000: 487 in math, 500 in reading and 502 in science. The three-yearly OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) report, which compares the knowledge and skills of 15-year-olds in 70 countries around the world, ranked the United States 14th out of 34 OECD countries for reading skills, 17th for science and 25th for mathematics)

We pay subsidies to Big Oil, go to war to protect their interests and create great vast riches for the military industrial complex through non-competitive bid contracts.

We give loans interest free to institutions that are monopolies and allow them the become our creditors with no money out of pocket, then, allow them to write off profits made from our taxes through tax loopholes.

This is the failed presidency of a man who rode a white horse and promised change we can believe in!